Apparatus for treating carbonaceous material



March 26, 1946. E, H. RECORDS APPARATUS FOR TREATING CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL Filed June 16, 1944 CON DEIYIEE 6 J .J 0 Y W R m5 ma N NC 55 0 VP T r m MW e ,E r e a. E V. W. a R a W .1 y a v w w x u m & m m W Patented Mar. 26, 1946 APPARATUS Fort Taoism-mo CARBONA- oEoUs MATERIAL Elmer H. Records, Tacoma, Wash; Application June 16, 1944,.Serial No. 540,711

2 Claims.

This invention relates to the treatment of carbonaceous materials for the recovery therefrom of useful Icy-products, and it has for its principal object to provide an improved method of and novel apparatus for the heat treatment of oil shale, tar sand, coal, wood and other carbonaceous materials, for the recovery therefrom of oils, vapors, hydrocarbons, gases and other useful byproducts that may result from said treatment.

To simplify the following specification, that part of the present apparatus which receives the charges of carbonaceous material for heat treatment will hereinafter be referred to as the retort and the material treated, whether it be oil shale, coal, tar sand, wood or a mixture ofsuch materials, will be referred to as carbonaceous material, with the understanding thatit might be any one or a mixture of the material that might betreated.

More specifically stated, the principal object of the present invention is to provide an economical, expeditious and elficient method of and means for the recovery of valuable by-products, such as oil, vapors and gases, from carbonaceous materials, and which is based upon the controlled application within a retort and to the material under treatment therein, of super-heated steam, or other gases, at temperatures that mightrange from 700 F. to 1800 F. and at pressures that might range from Zero gauge pressure to fifty pounds per square inch.

Still other objects of the invention reside in the details of construction of the various parts of the novel apparatus, in their combination, and in their mode of use, as will hereinafter be described.

In carrying out the objects of this invention, I have provided apparatus, a preferred form of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing', wherein:

Fig. '1 is a diagrammatic illustration of the treating apparatus, showing the retort, and portlons of the retort charging and unloading mechanism, in vertical section.

Fig. 2 is a cross section on line 2--2 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail of the charging valve.

In carrying out the present invention, cognizance has been taken of the way in which superheated steam, or other hot gases'us'ed for the treatment of the carbonaceous material, give up their heat; of the necessity of proper distribution of the steam throughout the entire charge; of the necessity for a reaction space to allow proper comingling of the gases, vapors and oils formed and extracted, and of th'enecessity of sweeping said gases; vapors and oils from the retort before thermal cracking, with resultant cokeformation, can take place to any appreciable extent.

The present apparatus for the treatment ofv oil shale, tar sand, coal and other carbonaceous material, makes use of rotating valves, at upper and lower ends of the retort, specially designed and constructed to permit the ingress and egress of such carbonaceous material without the loss of gaseous pressure within the retort. These special valves raise the apparatus above the level of a batch process retort and make possible a continuous through-put of the carbonaceous materialstobe treated.

cognizance has been taken of the chemical and physical instability oi the hydrocarbon gases, vapors and oils formed from some types of carbonaceous materials, such as oil shale and tar sand and a partial remedy for this has been pro vided by the injection into the charge as it pro-' other chemicals may be added to the retort charge.

cognizance has also been taken of the fact that all of the carbon and carbon compounds cannotbe removed from such materials as oil shale. and tar sand by any heat treatment, so at the spent material exit neck at the discharge end or base of the retort, a series of ports has been provided through which a controlled amount of air is admitted to cause said carbon and carbon com pounds to burn, thus furnishing further heat while obtaining therefrom other valuable byproducts such as carbon monoxide (CO).

Means has been provided in connection with the retort to keep its inner walls, that are in contact with the chargeyat a constant temperature throughout the entirerdistance of contact. By so doing, amore even control of retort temperatures can be maintained, thereby assuring uniformity of chemical and thermal reactions taking place andalso assuring a uniformity of end products.

Referring more in detail to the drawing: 7 I designates-a vertically disposed, .cyllndr'ical 3 is a shell 45.

' steam superheater 49.

1 branch 48a leading therefrom and opening into p the retort from a, feed valve housing It. The tube l5 opens into the retort at a location somewhat below its upper end wall so that the retort will i not be completely filled with the carbonaceous material at any time, thus providing an open space asdesignated at C in Fig. 1, for the mixing of gases and vapors. It is desirable to feed the material that is to be treated by gravity flow from a supply hopper [8 through a screw con veyor l9 that discharges into a pipe connected with the top side of the housing I6 of feed valve. I

The housing It contains a rotary valve 2| whereby measured amounts of material will be periodically fed into the upper end of the tube I5 for gravity flow into the retort chamber. The valve 2| as shown best in Fig. 3, is horizontally disposed and rotatably contained in the housing, and it is adapted to be axially rotated by its shaft through themediacy of a'shait gear 26. The

driving meansfor this gear is not herein shown,

but might be of any suitable character. The valve 2| contains a pocket 21 that has an inlet 28 adapted as thevalve rotates, to pass in registration with the discharge end of pipe 20 to receive material from the conveyor. Thepocket also has'an outlet 29 adapted on each rotation of the valve to be registered with the receiving end of tube l5 for the discharge of the material ,from'the pocket 21 into the tube l5 for delivery into the retort. The openings .28 and 29 open to the same side of the rotary valve, but are ofiset one from the other in the longitudinal direction of the valve, and thus there is, at no time, any direct outlet ,for gases under pressure from the retort through the valve housing, as will be understood by inspection of Fig. 3.

At its lower end, the retort has a conically V taperedwall 30 leading to the open upper end of atubular discharge pipe 3| which, at its lower end opens onto a horizontal conveyor tube 32 containing a feed screw 33. At its discharge end,

the tube 32 has a downwardly directed pipe connection 34 that opens into the top side of a valve housing 35 containing a rotary valve 36 whereby the material is discharged through an outlet 31 in the lower sideof the'valve housing. Valve 36 is' like that shown in Fig. 3 and like that described in connection with the feed mechanism,

i and it is driven through a gear 39 fixed on its drive shaft 40. This valve operates to retain gas pressure in the retort chamber while discharging I the. spent materials;

Enclosing the main body portion of the retort, This is of greater diameter than theretort and forms a steam chamber 46 thereabout. This chamber extends from the lower end of the retort, upwardly to near the level of the point of entrance of material into the treating chamber. v I v I The retort is supplied with superheated steam through a pipe connection 48 leading 'from' a The pipe 43 has one the steam chamber 46 that surrounds the retort near the lower end of the. retort, and this pipe is equipped with acontrol valve 50 affording. accurate control of the admittance of steam to the jacket.1- .f f l .Also, leading from the pipe 48, is a branch pipe through pipe 48b may be accurately determined and controlled.

Beside the superheated steam that enters the chamber through pipe 48b, additional steam is admitted thereto through a circular row of small perforations 53 in the chamber wall opening from'the lower end of the steam jacket. These perforations provide for a flow of the steam in the jacket and thus promote a better heating operation.

Gases and vapors are led off from chamber C at the upper end of the retort through a pipe 54 that opens through the endwall2. This pipe, equipped with a control valve 55, leads to a con denser 55 which in turn discharges through a pipe 51 into a decanter 58. Valve 55 makes D S-' sible a control of pressure in the retort chamber.

In this decanter, a separation'of oil and watei) discharge opening, a plurality of air inlet ports HI open into the chamber through the conical end wall. These lead from a manifold H that surrounds the conical end wall and which is connected by a pipe 12 with an air pressure'tank 13. A valve 14in the pipe IE/controls the'rate of admission ofair and provides for the admit tance of the exact amount required to effect the 7 oxidation of that carbon which may be 'leitf'in the spent material as it arrives at the discharge point, thus to produce carbon monoxide (CO). These perforations are protected against being clogged by material in the retortby an over;

hanging shieldiBD which is afiixed to the retort wall, as illustrated in Fig. 1. I

To conserve steam in the heating of the retort, it is desirable that the entire retortbe encased in a layer of suitable heat insulating material, glesiggiatedin Figs. 1 and 2 by reference charac er V Assuming that the parts of the apparatus are so constructed and are assembled'as described and illustrated, the method of useof the apparatus is as follows: i j i 1i First, with the-discharge valve closed, the. retort is charged with'the selected'carbonaceous material through thepipe l5 leadingfrom the feed valve mechanism. Then superheated steam or other suitable hot gases are admitted through pipe 48d into the steam jacket 46 to bring the retort up to a'desired working temperature'pand" steam is also admitted through pipe connection 48b :into the charge'of material;

Incident to this application of heat and steam, reaction takes place in the retort chamber and the gases, vapors and oils that are driven ofi from the carbonaceous charge rise into the chamber C where they commingle and are then drawn through the pipe 55 into the condenser 56 and ultimately the condensate passes to the decanter 58 for separation.

As carbonaceous material is acted on in the retort, the discharge valve 36 and the feed valve 2| are operated'at proper speed to effect a continuous removal of the spent material from the lower end of the retort and a continuous replenishing of the charge to maintain it at the desired level in the retort.

The rate of travel of the material through the retort is predicated on the time necessary to thoroughly and completely treat the charge from the time it enters the retort through pipe I5 until it leaves the discharge end through pipe 3|.

Should the gaseous vapors and oils thus evolved be of such nature as to need fortification and stabilization by oily hydrocarbons such as crude petroleum, this may be injected into the retort from the tank 65 through the pipes 66-66 under control of valves 61-61.

Should the charge be of such carbonaceous material that it is desirable to obtain all of the carbon and carbon compounds before ejection from the retort, then a controlled amount of air may be admitted through the ports from the air tank 13 and the carbon thus caused to be burned to carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide whichever is desired.

Operating temperatures in the retort are controlled by the heat of and application of steam to the retort and it varies with the material being treated and results desired. Likewise, pressure in the retort is governed by application of steam discharge of gases and this likewise varies in accordance with requirements and materials under treatment. Steam application is controlled by valves 5| and 52, and pressure in the chamber is regulated by adjustment of valve 55.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for the treatment of carbonaceous materials comprising a retort having an elongated, closed vertical chamber, and a steam jacket enclosing the chamber; said chamber having an inlet spaced below its upper end and having an outlet at its lower end, valve mechanism for the feeding of material into the chamber through said inlet to maintain a working charge in the chamber to a depth determined by the location of said inlet, a valve mechanism for the removal of material from the lower end of the chamber, to effect a continuous gravity advancement of the charge, valve controlled gas and vapor cit-taking connection at the upper end of the chamber; said steam jacket having ports opening therefrom into the lower end of the chamber circumferentially thereof, means for a controlled admittance of superheated steam into the jacket, for flow therefrom into the charge of material through said ports, means for admitting superheated steam into the central portion of the chamber near the lower end, and means for the admittance of air to the chamber in the close vicinity of the outlet, and means for the admittance of oil into the charge near the point of application of superheated steam.

2. Apparatus as recited in claim 1 including also means for a controlled admittance of superheated steam into the body of carbonaceous material in the lower portion of the retort, and means for a controlled admittance of a fortifying oil into the body of material adjacent said superheated steam inlet.

ELMER H. RECORDS. 

